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Congress: one media format to rule them all

Congress today had a hearing on the possibility of requiring a universal …

Some of our public servants from the US Congress today held a hearing on intellectual property today in which the feisty issue of digital music formats was discussed. The chew was mainly whether or not the government should require the development of a uniform Digital Rights Management format that wouldn't be controlled by any one corporate body. The itch they're looking to scratch is one we've all heard about already (no pun intended): music purchased at one online music store may not play in every consumer electronics device out there, and this has some people hopping mad. Take, for instance, the guy who is suing Apple for monopolist practices because of the iTunes Music Store - iTunes - iPod iLock-in.

Indeed, Apple is painted as the bad guy in this scenario because the company is keeping its FairPlay DRM close to its chest, meaning that those who want to rock-on with songs bought from the iTunes Music Store will have to hit the road with an iPod if they care to go mobile. (Unless, of course, they burn their songs and re-rip them, but this causes a generational loss in quality). It doesn't help that Apple has a dominating market share at the moment.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) have informally suggested that a national standard for interoperability be developed, and that portable music players with limitations of any kind be clearly marked. Unsurprisingly, those actually peddling music are not in favor of government interference.The CTO of Napster addressed the panel, saying that the government should stay out of this matter at this early stage of development.

"Similarly, it does not seem prudent for government to pick a winner in the continuing marketplace battle between Apple's Fairplay DRM and its competitors," he said. "Marketplace forces will continue to drive innovation in the DRM arena with attendant consumer benefits -- new ways to enjoy digital music at a variety of different price points -- while gradually solving the interoperability problem..."

Apple did not appear at the hearing, and declined comment.

If those selling music don't seem to mind the DRM competition right now, those developing consumer electronics do. As we reported back in January, the Marlin group has set out to try and develop interoperability standards as well as a universal DRM standard for devices. We don't expect to see much accomplished soon, because Apple and Microsoft's epic battle has only begun.

Of course, this entire circus has a ringmaster that needs no introduction: the DMCA. If it weren't for the anti-circumvention clause of 17 U.S.C. ? 1201 and following, none of this would even matter. If individuals could circumvent DRM for any otherwise legal purpose, and if companies could be free to develop circumvention tools for legal uses, then it wouldn't make any difference what format this stuff was sold in. It's the kind of Catch-22 that could only be borne of special interests and fear mongering, but did anyone mentioned this at today's hearing?

Ken Fisher
Ken is the founder & Editor-in-Chief of Ars Technica. A veteran of the IT industry and a scholar of antiquity, Ken studies the emergence of intellectual property regimes and their effects on culture and innovation. Emailken@arstechnica.com//Twitter@kenfisher